If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

best cooling mat for laptop with rear vent

i have an hp laptop with the vent in the rear in staid of bottom im wondering if someone can recommend a good cooling mat for my laptop im one of the lucky ones that can upgrade everything im gonna put a more powerful cpu double the ram to 8gb and put a ssd in as well as put 1tb in the hot swap slot so its gonna give off more heat than it does

I will go with that, especially for laptops, given the grief you have getting to the entrails of them. On desktops I sometimes use the aircan to blast the crap into the open where I can get to it with the vacuum.............

My best buys in this area are in those "bargain stores" where you can get half a dozen artist's brushes for like $1.5? The thick pig bristle ones are great for cleaning out dust bunnies; all you have to do is use a gentle twisting motion like with a fork and spaghetti or noodles.

So long as its plugged, it won't generate anymore heat than its current state anyway.

If you mean wall socket power then I am totally with you there, and my laptop may have a dud battery anyways, but it does seem to heat up on battery power???

In my opinion, they are all pretty much the same, given that the heat is generated inside the case and they are only cooling the bottomof the outside?

The main advantage to me is that they raise the laptop above the working surface and allow good airflow.

I don't rate the USB ones, as they are using power from the machine and that generates heat. It also drains the battery.

Increasing the RAM doesn't generate heat, only using it does.

Your best move that you have suggested is to replace the HDD with SDD.

Using an external drive as opposed to the hotswap would also reduce power demand and hence heat? Otherwise look at SSD, although I haven't seen 1TB yet, and it is expensive.

the only problem im having with externals is they are designed soley for backup they arnt geared towards everyday use ive had 3 fail on me that way , thats why i was looking at getting a 1 tb magnetic for the hot swap port and a 200gb ssd for os drive just wanted to clarify i think i was half asleep before again thank you everyone so much for your help just wanted to clarify and share knowledge

I have an external HDD docking station. It measures 5"x3"x3" and will take 3.5" or 2.5" regular internal drives.

About 2/3 of the drive is exposed when mounted, so is at ambient temperature. I could improve things a bit with a small desk fan.

Basically, the enclosed external drives that I have seen don't have any cooling, so aren't really suitable for prolonged use?

I guess I was asleep on my last post as well

Obviously, if you are going to use the 1TB as a regular system drive you want it to perform, and a USB2 connected drive is only going to give you around 30MB/sec.

The hot swap port must offer far better transfer rates than that? but I must admit I have never used one.

I am looking to get a USB3 docking station which has to give me 60MB/sec, and will most likely be 100~200MBps, if external USB3 drives are anything to go by?.............my "fast" machines all have USB3 ports.

Having said all that; if you just buy a 1TB drive and stick it in the hotswap port, just look at the temperatures. If you are having heat problems, you can always then go and buy a docking station and stick the very same drive in that.